Non-crucible furnace



1. E. HAUSFE LD.

NON-CRUCIBLE FURNACE.

APPLICATION FILED DEC-26,1917- 1,336,1-37. Patented Apr. 6, 1920.

3 SHEETSSHEET I.

IIIII'TFT m4 1 IM uc ufoz J. E. HAUSFELD.

NON-CRUCIBLE FURNACE. I APPLICATION FILED DEC-26,1917.

Patenefi Apr. 6 192i) 3 SHEETSSHEET 2 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH E. HAUSFELD, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.

NON -CRUCIBLE FURNACE.

Application filed December 26, 1917.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH E. HAUsrELo, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Non-Crucible Furnaces, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

My invention relates to furnaces, primarily for melting brass and like alloys, which employ a direct heating without any separate crucible. The furnace of my invention is also tiltable and may be held fast in any desired position.

It is thus the object of my invention to provide a furnace mounted on trunnions, wherein the fuel, gaseous or oil, is fed through the trunnions or through some other revoluble means, direct to the interior of the furnace. I provide a particular shape of furnace, preferably cylindrical, but essentially with angle corners at the base so that in tilting the furnace, the molten mass is churned up, rather than permitted to roll over as in an oval or bowl-shaped crucible.

It is also one of my objects to provide a certain shape of burner nozzle and a certain positioning of the inlet therefrom in the furnace so as to get a spreading flame which may be made to heat the furnace walls, or spread fanlike over the surface of the metals, without being driven directly onto the mass of metal, and does not excessively churn up the metals within the furnace or excessively heat them so as to cause oxidation or burning.

It is a further object to providea single heating unit as it were for the use of either gas or oil as a fuel, so that at a moments notice the gas can be turned off and liquid fuel substituted without in any way modifying orc'hanging the apparatus. This is accomplished by utilizing an oil pump in connection with the blower for furnishing a prop'ermixture and forced draft when either gas or liquid fuel is used.

provide other advantages also, such as making the furnace with a flat top, or its equivalent so that the metals of a given charge, or additional materials from time to time, may be piled on top of the furnace and pushed into the flame outlet by means of a rod or pusher. Also I provide a preheater for the ladle by means of a simple ladle and a ladle holder therefor which holds the ladle Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 6, 1920.

Serial No. 208,776.

in inverted position over the pouring outlet of the furnace.

These objects and other advantages to be noted I accomplish by that certain construction and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter more specifically pointed out and claimed.

In the drawings, which illustrate one construction of my improved furnace as the preferable construction, Figure 1 is a top plan view of the furnace.

. F ig. 2 is a side elevation thereof from the rocking device side.

Fig. 3 is a central horizontal section through the complete device.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the heating unit for either oil or gas.

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the same, partly in section, on the lines 55 of Fig. 4.

The furnace has a cylindrical casing 1, with a base 2. The interior is lined with fire clay 3, and the top is formed by means of fire clay pieces 5, and an annular plate 6, having an upwardly extending rim 7. In the center of the top is the orifice 8 for the escape of products of combustion.

It can thus be seen that when the furnace is upright, a table provided on which the materials used may be piled and pushed into the furnace while the burner is lighted and the furnace hot.

Bolted to the side shell of the furnace are trunnions 9 and 10, which are mounted preferably in antifriction bearings in journals 11, 11, on heavy standards 12, 12.

To the trunnion 9 is secured a handle 13, and a notched sector plate 14. The handle is used for tilting the furnace, and a dog 14c slidably mounted in the bracket 15 and pressed by the spring 16 engages the notched sector plate and retains the furnace in desired tilted position.

To operate the dog it is extended at 17 to a pivot connection 18, with two foot treadles 19 pivoted, one on the front and one on the back of the standard of the frame at 19. A depression of one of the treadles Withdraws the dog from the notched plate and releases the furnace so that it can be tilted. In order that the depression of the foot levers,

dog 14: in order to prevent the accidental overturning of the furnace, should one of the foot treadles be accidentally stepped upon, I provide a locking bar 21 pivoted to the standard at 22, Fig. 1, and arranged to be swung into engagement with one of the teeth of the sector plate 14.

Secured to the casing on each side of the outlet 20, as shown in Fig. 1, are a pair of horizontally projecting bracket plates 22.

These plates are each provided with a channel 23 in the outer edge thereof opening toward each other and the ladle 24; for the reception of the molten metal, which ladle is 5 a circular cup or bucket, is provided with an outwardly projecting flange 25 adapted to fit and slide in the channels 23, so that the sides of the channels will grasp and hold the ladle in horizontal position, whereby the operator may drop the ladle into a position inverted over the outlet and may preheat it by the escaping flames through this outlet. In pouring out, the ladle is left in this position and removed by the operator with suitable tongs when filled to the desired capacity.

For heating the furnace I provide a unit construction for either gas or oil as a fuel.

Mounted on a bracket secured to the 30 standard 12, is a base plate 31 upon which is mounted a blower 26, for maintaining a proper gas mixture and the necessary forced draft, the gas being supplied through the gas inlet pipe 33. The outlet pipe 27 from 35 the blower is connected by a revoluble c0nplmg 29 and a cored out recess 28 in the eX- tension of the trunnion 10 with the conduit 32, which bends upwardly t-oa point above the center of the furnace and then down- 40 wardly into the flared out open mouth 31, which is funnel shaped and which flares partly upwardly and partly downwardly.

The blower is preferably driven by a motor-3 1 the shaft of which carries a pinion 35 .5 wh1ch is arranged to mesh with the gear 36 operating an oil pump 3?. The base plate 38 of the oil pump is slotted and secured by boltsvto the base 31 so that the pump can be shifted to disconnect the pinion 35 from the pump gear 36 as shown in Fig. 1, or to connect the gears as indicated in Fig. 3.

The oil is supplied to the pump through pipe l0 and from the pump to the nozzle ll, projecting into the flaring opening 31 through a flexible hose pipe 412. Apre ssure gage 1's provided for the pump as shown, and the exhaust or overflow from the pump is taken off by the pipe 40. VVhen gas is used as a fuel, the pump is d sconnected by separating the gears 35, 36., which leaves the pump inactive. Should the gas supply fail, or for other reasons oil deslred to be substituted, in a moments notice the oil pump can be connected and the I55 oil, delivered in a fine spray at the. oil nozzle:

4.1, where it is properly mixed with air from the blower.

As so constructed, the preferred operation of the furnace is as follows: The furnace is set vertically, the metal placed on the table top and the burner lighted. The gas preheats the lining of the furnace after which the metal is pushed in, a full charge filling the furnace about to the dotted line A, Fig. 3. The gas from the nozzle inlet spreads and rolls over the surface of the metal without excessive churning and heats the walls of the furnace to considerable intensity. The furnace at an early stage is tipped over to about a horizontal position with the pouring outlet uppermost. When in this tilted position, the gas from the burner plays direct against the base of the furnace and the side walls thereof above the surface of the metal.

The conducted heat from the furnace lining to the metal forms the best melting heat for the charge. From time to time the furnace is tilted back and forth by the opera tor, which churns up the metal as it is not free to roll over the angle corner at the base as it would in a bowl-like bottom. The furnace is allowed to stand at various positions, although the horizontal should be used for the majority of the time.

In the claims that follow it is desired that the full benefit of the doctrine of equivalents be given in their construction.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A non-crucible furnace comprising a tiltable body within which the charge is placed having walls and a base at angles to each other, and a flaring, funnel-shaped fuel inlet in the walls of said body, with means for supplying liquid or gaseous fuel thereto, said inlet entering the body at an angle and positioned above the pivotal center of the body, whereby the flame from the fuel may be spread fanlike over the metal without excessive churning.

2. A noncrucible furnace comprising a body of cyclindrical shape internally within which the charge is placed, means'for tiltably mounting the same, and a flaring, funnel-shaped fuel inlet in said body, with means for supplying liquid or gaseous fuel thereto, saidinlet being located above the pivotal center of the body and entering the body at a downward angle, whereby the flame from the fuel may be spread fanlike over the metal without excessive churning.

' 3. A- non-crucible furnace comprising a body, means for tiltably mounting the body, a fuel inlet in the body, means for supplyingliquid or gaseous fuel thereto, said body having a top adapted to receive a charge of metals, said top having an upwardly extending, rnnaround it, to form a shallow receptacle, and an orifice in said top, for the purpose described.

a. A non-crucible furnace comprising a body, means for tiltably mounting the body, a fuel inlet in the body, means for supplying liquid or gaseous fuel thereto, an opening in the body, a ladle, and means on the body for retaining the ladle in inverted position over the opening.

5. A non-crucible furnace comprising a. body, means for tiltably mounting the body, a fuel inlet in the body, means for supplying liquid or gaseous fuel thereto, a pouring opening located in the side of the body near the top, a ladle, and means for holding the ladle in inverted position over the said opening.

6. A non-crucible furnace comprising a body to contain the charge, means for tiltably mounting the body, a fuel inlet in the body, means for supplying liquid or gaseous fuel thereto, said inlet in the body comprising a downwardly directioned funnel-shaped orifice having walls flaring downwardly and partly upwardly to spread the flame over the metal without excessive churning.

JOSEPH E. HAUSFELD. 

